COVID Update – 8/19/2021

COVID is still on a surge through America right now, and it’s continuing to make its presence known. It has been nothing short of devastating not only here in America, but also around the world. COVID has mutated into more contagious strains, such as the Delta variant, and these have had major impacts on the recent surge in cases. Because it is more contagious, COVID is running rapidly through unvaccinated areas more so than vaccinated. Vaccinated areas still are seeing an uptick in cases because the Delta variant is contractible even with the vaccine. The vaccine has proven to lessen the severity of the case and also significantly decrease your chance for hospitalization or death.

School’s are starting to get back in session. Most schools are doing in person classes, but are requiring students to be vaccinated. Elementary schools are seeing things a little different. There is no vaccine in America for children, but they are still able to contract COVID and pass it along to others, which could make these schools hotspots in America, at least until a vaccine is released for them. In Oregon, the Governor is requiring all faculty at public schools be vaccinated or they will not be allowed to work. It will be interesting to see if other states follow suite.

In America, we have seen almost 37.5M cases in the last 30 days, and over 623,000 total deaths. Other vaccines are in the works and lots of studies are being conducted. Hopefully we can start getting these numbers back under control.